Oklahoma State Athletic Commission Defers Possible Intergender Wrestling Rule Change To State Legislature

A rule change relating to intergender wrestling has been moved by the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission to the state legislature.

This comes after All Elite Wrestling were warned by the commission over booking Nyla Rose on their TV tapings from Oklahoma City in December 2023. Rose, who is transgender, faced Alejandra Lion on December 20 in a match taped for Ring of Honor TV.

A transgender wrestler performing in Oklahoma is against OSAC rules but the commission was quickly condemned within professional wrestling, including by AEW CEO Tony Khan who admitted the OSAC warning was disappointing.

It emerged earlier this year that OSAC was considering a rule change. The commission first met in July without reaching a decision and they have failed to reach a decision again after meeting on Tuesday, October 8.

Some members of OSAC, according to OKC Fox, claimed a rule change would violate a new law which states that athletes must play on a team matching their biological sex. Other members argued the law wasn't applicable to pro wrestling.

OSAC Commissioner Michael Stopp said the issue may get too political if they change the rule without the state legislature and OSAC ultimately approved asking the legislature to consider the rule change in a future legislative hearing.

Stopp said: "Even if they are defined by statute as male and female, are we still going to allow them to wrestle together? That's the question, and it's going to get lost. The rule will never pass."

Following the OSAC warning, Nyla Rose released a t-shirt will all proceeds going to Freedom Oklahoma, an organisation that works to "to build a future where all Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and fuller spectrum of people whose sexuality or gender or romantic identity exists beyond a heteronormative, binary framework (2SLGBTQ+), have the safety to thrive."